New report shows Windows Phone increasing its share of the smartphone market

Gartner has published an interesting report, which details numerous points. The first is Nokia falling to position 10 in the first quarter of 2013. This is out of all mobile phone manufacturers (Samsung remains first). While Windows Phone is increasing its share and sales, Nokia has still yet to experience a surge that will replace the sheer volume of units the company used to ship.

It's not all doom and gloom, however.

As one can see in the above, Microsoft is climbing rather steadily from 2012. The company holds 2.9 percent of the market, while it only held 1.9 percent the same time last year - not a bad increase. With Blackberry continuing to dwindle, it's now time for Nokia and Microsoft to really push the platform. The Lumia 925 is a sign of things to come, and boy are those things going to be good.

In Europe WP is gaining great market share. In Italy (60mill people) and Poland (80+) WP has about 15%. In Asia the cheaper models are also started selling. US have always been a difficult market for Nokia (=WP) so nothing new here, but there are still many countries where there's no WP units at all.
My guess is that when 520 and 620 have been on the Asian market for at least one quater, the WP marketshare will grow even more.

Europe is really starting to get on board with windows phone. The UK has some great celeb endorsement from Holly Willoughby and others. As mentioned, itally and Poland love it. India, brazil and Mexico are all jumping in with two feet.

The us is snarky and condescending towards WP, but even there its growing. Slowly. But it has at least gotten the respect of the main stream media, well, they don't winge too much nowadays.

Actually here in Italy we are very fond of Nokia, but after people try a Nokia Lumia they either fall in love with Windows Phone or they hate it. Lots of people keep on wishing to see a Nokia with Android at every press conference. FOOLS :P

It may happen, sooner than later. As a WP fan AND a Nokia fan, I wouldn't mind if Nokia made Android phones...as long as they keep making WP too. I would hate to see the company disappear if supporting WP solely wasn't helping their bottom line.

I think people underestimate the developing costs of making an android device, at least if you want to compete with Samsung, HTC, ...
Nokia has a lot of hardware experience but all their firmware will have to be rewritten, they won't be able to use their exclusive (camera) apps, they would't be able to use their navigation suite as leverage, ...

@oddom, you need to go to school and study math! HTC sold 4+M smartphones in the last quarter with a net of U.S.$2+M as against 5+M Lumias by Nokia. How is that HTC figure "10 fold" compared to Nokia's 1Q13?!!

Well since your an idiot I will explain...if HTC sold just windows phone without any android phones to pad even that small number, how much money do you think they would make off just windows phone? Like nothing else but pure windows..oh and let's take away the Microsoft paycheck and the others platforms they sell and royalties from other companies for patents...you are clueless man wp has 2.9% market share and HTC is not a big part of that :p

I resent that....I'm in the US, and I'm snarky and condoscending about everything but WP. :-) The other day someone was complaining that their iPhone was almost dead. I was like, "Hm, my phone still has over 50%, must be an iPhone problem."

Indeed, my brother (17yo) has one and when his friends saw XBOX Live and Achievements, etc, two of them switched. The rich friend threw his iPhone on the floor and stomped on it. Next day he had a brand new HTC 8X.

I travel all the time (US) and I'm constantly looking at all devices people use. Apple clearly majority but I have started seeing a few WPs in the wild. Also seen a few Surfaces as well (not Microsoft employees, I asked) so things aren't looking so terrible.

Since my Samsung Focus (now 920) I've seen 8 in the wild and 2 Surface tablets.
The outsider app shows a lot of people in my area with wp but I never seem to run into them :/
I know you guys exist BC you guys post here lol

I keep seeing them at work at different retailers (Best Buy, Frys, Staples, etc).. I walked into A best buy, right away two guys had 8X another had a Nokia 900 and I also saw 2 920. I asked if they were for work or personal and all but one said they were personal :)

I find that so supprising.
At my work we have a wide varieity of phones, all of which have had issues connecting to email on the server. When it came to setting mine up the network admin wanted to do it as a comparison to the others he has had to fiddle with and he had not played with a WP yet. Entered in the email and password and that was it. All email, callendars, and contacts started working flawlessly. While my phone is primarially for personal use, it makes for an awesome work phone, and I am constantly amazed that MS does not push that at all.
As for sightings;
I have seen 5 WPs in the wild here in Cincy. 2 Lumia 920s, 1 Lumia 820 (tmobile model?), 1 HTC 8S, and one Lumia 900. Other than the 900, all of the others were spotted in the last month, so I think it is catching on.

I live in a small town, (less than 40k) I've seen 6 920s and a bunch of older windows phone. I work for a staples that doesn't do cell phones but I show my 920 off to everyone. Love seeing so many out there.

I've still only seen 5, my 900 mu old HTC surround which I sold to some guy, my gfs 610 and my cousins 920 and one random LG at the bar. East coast Canada seems to have very few WP fans but I still try to sway ppl

I've gotten at least three people to switch...the ones closest to me who haven't yet are simply by virtue of economics. Either they don't have the dough to move or the carrier they use doesn't carry them, again not moving because of the cost. Damn MetroPCS, it doesn't make sense that they haven't jumped all over Windows Phone?? =/

everyone at the top fails..Sony, Nokia, Motorola, HP, etc etc have all been dominant at one point and now are struggling. It is nearly impossible to stay on top. Nokia is coming back from the bottom, so they have a long way to go, but to say a company will stay on top is short sighted.

You are right. There is a book (can't remember its name) but it talks about how big companies are destined to fall and why. I'm going to do a Bing search see if I can remember its title and Il probably buy the book...

It's a matter of when not if my friend. One point that skips our mind when comparing Microsoft/Nokia with other OEMs and Mobile OS is that WP8 isn't firing on all fours thanks to MS pussy footing about trivial issues. What do I mean?
WP8 as it is today is half baked when compared to the likes of Andriod, Apple and BB10. Basic facets that complete the Mobile os experience are mising - notification center, vpn, data management, file manager, etc.
Microsoft has not fully utilized its Xbox, skype and office prowness to the advantage of WP8. Let's leave the apps chapter; atleast it's improving albiet slowly.
The potential for WP8 is HUGE; even bigger than anything we currently have. When the holes are finally plugged in the OS and MS starts thinking and acting right in terms of using its strenghts (Xbox, Office, Skype, wait a sec...have you given thought of what an exclusive WP8 version of a full Halo chronicle will do for the platform?) then WP8 and Nokia will leap frog the Andriod army.
Act now MS...the time is now. (or at least let Nokia do it)

Some of those features seem like a legacy way of getting things done...I will concede that higher enterprise/business functionality would be a huge plus, but the other platforms have certain features that are necessary for their particular style of computing. I for one still don't think that with the rationale behind Windows Phone, that a notification center makes sense, although I have seen that Unification and other attempts are a great solution. You really have to look at the why things are or aren't present in either platform...sometimes things are deliberately left out by design and not "half-baked" =[

Yeah, I also see a lot of WP phones here in Finland.. Though we are a small country and have nokia to support so :( But i did see a Samsung WP7 device once in film theater! And my friend has omnia w :D And i have Samsung Ativ S.. So it's all about Samsung and nokia here if speaking of WP :)

Oh, sorry didn't mean it that way. I mean't that you don't see ANY other WP devices here than Samsung's or Nokia's. Nokia's for a lot and Samsung's just a bit. But no, they don't sell well. Though I see a lot of Lumias in my school and, well nearly as much as iPhones. But, it's just my city :)

I'm in the bay. I haven't seen a single person yet besides me. People do say "is that the new Nokia?" and ask questions about it. Honestly, if msft wants mobile 8 to take off, they really should have a commercial showing what their operating system can do now and down the road (Xbox 720) instead of presenting themselves as a third option. That's the common theme I get from those who ask me about my phone.

If msft can integrate the Xbox 720 to the windows 8\movile platform to something more than a smartglass.... it will give "reason to switch." Even being able to watch in on your buddies game play or playback game play from ONLY a windows phone would surge sales. Ps3 is close but lack a mobile environment.

Wow, Google is eating ALL of Apple's lunch. Never thought I'd see iOS under 33-35% anywhere and here they are under 20%.

Fanboys here continually yell about how MS should cut off Samsung, but myself and a seemingly small number here continue to push and say that MS needs Samsung WAY more than it needs Nokia. If they would redirect some of those checks they have going to Nokia over to Sammy to have them push the ATIV line as hard as the Galaxy line, they'd be at 10% in no time. Nokia alone is NEVER going to get them there here in the US especially with HTC fading.

I agree. Nokia is now Windows Phone which is not an ideal situation. They need to flood the market with lots of devices from different manufacturers to get better growth. The main problem is that Samsung and others can't customize the OS enough to make it their own product so they are not interested in such a competitive market.

I kinda think that those OEMs have a weak argument and are honestly only interested in taking what they can to use for something else...there has been NO honor in the mobile game, except from Nokia. #sad =[

Because MS has not made it appealing enough for them to be heavily interested. There's a myriad of things MS could do from strike a Nokia-like deal with Sammy to lowering license fees, WP royalty fees and android royalty fees. MS certainly could make it worth their while.

Suspect that Samsung is into WP only to get their hands on some MS/WP coding...
Strange how WP/MS/Nokia-like stuff pops up on their Androids.
And they produce parts for Nokia...
No, have bought my last Samsung, either it's a phone, tv or space shuttle...

Except at my local Microsoft Store opening (that crowd had a bunch), I have only seen one Windows Phone out in the wild. Got excited and wanted to small talk but it was a teenage girl and that would've been creepy.

One thing that would help Nokia is by having some sort of promotion where if a person trades in their Symbian phone they get a Lumia at a discounted price. That should help with adoption of windows phone as well!

From the ridiculous drop in Symbian + BB and the ridiculous rise in Android can we say that most of the phones that have been sold are lower end? If so than the recent launch of the 520 should help in bringing WP shares up.

As soon as WP8 is a 25% or more market share, I will jump ship to the next underdog and support them. I like being one of the very few with a windows phone. ""Not a day goes by where someone does not ask me what kind of phone this is or still liking WP?""...... When was the last time you asked an iPhone or android user what kind of phone was that or still liking ios or android?? 2008-2010??

In my office, out of 12 we 6 iPhones, 4 Windows phones, 1 BB and 1 android. One guy is already thinking to change his iPhone to WP8 when his contact comes to an end. If I go by this then WP is almost @ 50% market share :)

Nokia/Microsoft need to stop all of this "exclusive" release nonsense, stop fragmenting their lineup, and make the phones widely available (just like Apple and Samsung do, who are #1 and #2 in smarphone sales). In Canada, the only provider that has a flagship Nokia is Rogers (and many in Canada cannot switch to Rogers because of terrible coverage in some regions). The only other WP8 Nokia I'm aware of on a Canadian carrier is the 620 on Telus. I want a WP8 Lumia and have for months, but i simply am not able to get one. (its silly to have to spend $600 to buy outright and get no subsidy)

I bought my black L820 from the US (online) , unlocked, of course it was not cheap but cheaper than buying an unlocked flagship Android phone or iPhone.
I have no regret for WP, I like it, just too bad that not many carriers here have it. Telus still sells the old Lumia 800/900 series for 0$ with a 2-3 years contract. Rogers is also selling the red L920 with new contracts.
But as seen in older news, Koodoo, Rogers and Telus are gonna carry the Lumia 520 soon, so that would increase a little bit the sales here in Canada even if this phone is not the flagship/fastest one, it is still a good phone for some new users.

In Lebanon people are recofnizing the Lumia when they see it with me and they start asking me questions with major interest but here people only like to buy the "cool" phone, so advertising it at malls can only benefit the brand, especially since this has always been a nokia country and nokia has always advertised here before.

I've seen BB adverts and S4 but not one single Lumia ad. around the country.

I can attest to growth or at least recognition. I had a twilight zone moment over the weekend when a massive chunk of my friends, men AND women saw my phone and knew what it was. They all have iPhones but they were loving the screen on my 920 and the pictures it takes. They had a bunch of questions about it and the live tiles and they had all seen it from the wedding switch commercial. Never say MS hasn't done anything right. ;-)

I converted about 14 people to Windows phone since its debut in 2010. Most are still on board. Its crazy how when we get together in makes Windows phone appear very strong. From my close friends 5 have WP's 3 iPhone and one android. The iPhone guys are jealous because of WP's beauty. My wifes friends are starting to notice and compliment the phone beautiful OS,everytime. All of her friends have iPhones but some are considering switching

in Brazil famous artists in "sitcoms " are using Lumia920, as part of a marketing plan from Nokia, they send SMS to each other and WP is on evidence.... Only commercial I saw yet...
But agreement with local carrier would help much more

Until now, I only saw one guy with his red Lumia 920 (with Rogers probably) on the bus when I go to work. With me (unlocked Lumia 820), that's only 2 people here in Montréal, Canada :-(.
Problem in Canada is that most people (I would say at least 40%) have iPhones, 40% an Android phone, 10-15% BB and until now, 2 have WP here.

I live in the US and have a L920, Cyan. I absolutely dig WP and have been a fan of it since WP7 was launched. Nokia and Microsoft are finally starting to gain some good traction around the globe. Go Windows Phone..............

Sadly im the only one in my family who uses windows phone I had webos be4 this so im use to this... Question Do you guys feel like availability at launch is an issue for Nokia because HSN only had 400 Lumia 521 units not sure how many WalMart had or Tmobile every launch since I've got my 900 has left people waiting weeks past launch day to get a phone the 920 was the worse At&t stores had 3 yellow or two reds so the US carriers aren't helping Nokia get these phones into our hands effectively lets think about the average consumer who were on the fence and just stuck with android or ios cause they didn't want to wait weeks for a phone

It will never stop being true, the time is always now and it will never seem like enough but that's just because people always want more...and if you need to get somewhere, I definitely suggest HERE Drive+ =P

In my small town, shops here do sell them but in low numbers. Lumia used to be always sold out but now I can see units (620,820,920) being displayed longer on the shelves. I hope it means they are keeping higher stock levels.
Three co-workers uses WP, all use the 920 except an for an early adopter on a 700. People are wow'ed when they what the 920 can do, but I doubt they would switch. Its a long road,,,,,,

From the numbers its veryu much clear that WP ate away BB sales! The number of WP unit sales increase is almost equal to number of BB unit sales decreased in this period! Thats a very good sign... Just finish off BB from the market and take away their sales!

Still don't see many WPs in Switzerland, but more than a year ago when I seemed to be the only Swiss with WP But Switzerland is still Apple-Land (you don't see many Sansungs and HTCs here either). Blackberries always have been a rarity outside of banking, and now even in offices, they seem,to be disappearing. I've heard from a Mediamarkt-Employee that Surface RTs are selling well, but have never seen one in the wild.

why lumia 520/521 is out of stock a lot. Seems like nokia still has supply constraint.
In developing country like mine, Iphone/galaxy is every where but Lumias. just a few of them has win phones. Me myself has Sammy focus and Omnia W 7.8 :)
Nokia should go big on Africa, it's a huge market with lots of people still using feature phones. BBerry is holding like 50% of the market thanks to its free messenger. Winphone jumps from 3% to 10% in Africa thanks to Huawei W1 device.

I have 3 L920s in the office and 1 in repair. My boss bought them and switched to Z10 only because he only uses SMS and email and the BBRY I guess has a better messaging hub which he likes. He never took advantage of all other features of the L920. All my buddies have Lumias (3 L920s, L900, L810). All of my L920s are in black, so I just ordered one white housing on eBay for $39 :)

I think the Lumia 521 will bring a lot of new faces to Windows Phone. I've been an Android faithful since my first smartphone, but have been wanting to try Windows Phone 8 for a while but couldn't justify spending money on a phone I wouldn't be sure I'd like. But for $130 I was willing to take a shot, and I'm glad I did. Loving WP8 so far.